Central Bank of Nigeria
Naira appreciates at N493 to dollar in parallel market
The naira, on Thursday, appreciated by 1.8 percent to N493 to a dollar at the parallel market as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased forex supplies to banks. The local currency, which opened at N502 per dollar, gained N17 to N485 during midday trading before closing at N493/$1, according to data on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel rates in Lagos. It also appreciated against the pound sterling to close at N710 and N600, gaining N3 and N6, respectively, on the street. At the importer and exporter (I&E) window, it appreciated 0.13 percent to close at N411.50 to the dollar. Last week, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, met with bank CEOs and agreed to increase the amount of foreign exchange allocated to banks to meet legitimate needs. Emefiele cautioned them to ensure that...
Femi Falana: Old grazing reserves law applied only to northern states
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has disclosed that the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 which President Muhammadu Buhari was bent on reviving was only applicable to northern Nigeria in the 1960s. In a statement issued on Sunday and titled, ‘President Buhari Should Embrace Ranching,’ Falana argued that the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 was not a law of general application because the “Western Region, Mid-Western Region and the Eastern Region had ranches for animal husbandry.” Falana, therefore, advised Buhari to promote ranching instead of attempting to revive grazing routes. The human rights lawyer stated that in 2016, the federal government announced that it had acquired 55,000 hectares of land in 11 states for grazing of cattle. “Shortly thereafter the federal government adopted c...
Presidency: One million Nigerians benefitting from survival fund
The Presidency yesterday said that over one million Nigerians have so far benefitted from the Survival Fund scheme under the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The Presidency said there are 500,000 beneficiaries from the MSMEs Payroll support track, 44,500 under the one-off General MSME Grant, and another 265,425 under the artisan support track, among others. Recall that payment to new beneficiaries of the Payroll Support track and the one-time General MSME Grant had commenced at the end of April. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, in Abuja last night explained that so far, under the ESP there are currently over one million beneficiaries nationwide from the various schemes...
House invites CBN governor on recovered loots
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the assessment and status of recovered loots has invited the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Adeogun Adejoro, who extended the invitation on Thursday in Abuja said that it was necessary for the committee to know the number of recovered loots and where they were being kept. The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed had told the committee that she had no idea of the number of accounts being used to keep the recovered loot. She, however, said that the ministry had a record of what had been recovered and the amount that had come into the account. She stated that N50 billion was provided from recovered loot to fund the 2020 budget, adding that the...
Nigerian anti-graft agencies urged to beam searchlight on professional bodies
Human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), members of civil society groups and others have called on anti-graft agencies to beam their searchlight on professional bodies in the country if the fight against corruption must be successful. Falana and others are of the opinion that until members of professional bodies who are found to have aided crimes and criminality are sanctioned, corruption will continue to be on the rise. Falana, Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Olarenwaju Suraj, and Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Mr Sadiq Radda, argued that professionals such as lawyers, accountants, bankers etc should be made to face the same punishment alongside their criminal clients. They made the suggestions on Wednesday...
James Ibori loot: Delta asks federal government to return recovered fund to state
Delta State Government on Tuesday reacted to receipt by the Nigerian government of the £4.2 million first tranche of the Ibori loot from the goverment of the United Kingdom. The state government restated its earlier stand that since the returned money was illegally taken out of Delta’s Treasury, it should appropriately be returned to Delta State. This is coming on the dissolution, on Tuesday, of the Delta State Executive Council (EXCO) with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa asking the Secretary to State Government (SSG), all civil commissioners and the governor’s aides to surrender all vital government documents and property to their respective permanent secretaries in the ministries, departments and agencies. The outgoing state commissioner for information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, reiterated the positio...
CBN governor seeks PPP model to improve healthcare infrastructure
Bloomberg The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged stakeholders in the public and private sectors to collaborate to build a more healthy and robust healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria. The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, made the call at a movie launch titled: “UNMASKED”, a feature documentary on leadership, trust and the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The movie was produced and directed by Mr Femi Odugbemi, a Nigerian documentary filmmaker, and co-produced by Ms Kadaria Ahmed, a renowned journalist, media entrepreneur and television host, on Friday in Lagos. According to Emefiele, addressing the public health crisis along with the downturn in the economy required strong coordination. He said the measures and interventions put in place by the CBN and private sector to improve governme...
CBN governor vows to block maize importation
Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele on Thursday vowed to resist importation of maize as Nigerians have the capacity and capability to grow the crop locally to meet consumption demand. On that note, he has urged youths across the country to embrace agriculture, declaring the bank’s readiness to support those ready to venture into it. Emefiele made the declaration in Katsina at the unveiling of the first maize pyramid and flag-off of the 2021 maize wet season farming under the CBN-Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. He averred that Nigerian youths could leverage their talents, along with technological tools to improve farm productivity and delivery of agricultural produce to markets. While noting that agriculture offered significant benefi...
May Day: President Buhari promises workers better packages
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured workers of better packages to cushion economic effects of COVID-19 on their resources. The President said his administration has put in place some socio-economic policies to alleviate poverty. Buhari said the Federal Government has expanded the Conditional Cash Transfer for the vulnerable poor from 2.6 million households to 7.6 million. He also noted COVID-19 Rapid Response Register has been expanded for urban poor to 4.8 million households, which included urban poor and working class. The President spoke during this year’s May Day celebration at the Eagle Square on Saturday in Abuja. This year’s celebration had as its theme: “COVID-19 pandemic, social and economic crisis: challenges for decent jobs, social protection and people’s welfare”. Buhari, wh...
Senate passes amended AMCON bill, empowers agency to seize debtors’ assets
The Senate Wednesday passed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Amendment bill after considering the report of its Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions. The amendment bill passed by the upper chamber empowers the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria to, among others, take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property is used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan in particular. It also empowers the corporation to access the Special Tribunal established by the BOFIA, 2020 for dealing with financial related matters. Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) said the Committee engaged with stakeholders such as AMCON, Federal Ministry of Finance, ...
Wheat farmers bemoan $6.1 billion annual import, laud CBN restriction on forex for importers
The Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) says about $6.1 billion is spent yearly to import wheat into Nigeria. The President of the association, Alhaji Salim Muhammad, made this known at a news conference on Wheat Forex in Abuja on Thursday. Muhammad commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the policy that placed wheat on Forex restriction. He described it as an impressive policy and a welcome development. According to him, Nigeria consumes 5 million metric tons of wheat per annum, while a meagre 420,000 tons is produced locally. He said that in view of numerous challenges that plagued local production, the policy would enable the government to unlock the unrealised potentials in the wheat sub-sector. “The forex restriction policy will give relevant stakeholders the confiden...
Minister: 60% of dairy products consumed in Nigeria imported
Nigeria imports at least 60 per cent of dairy products the country consumes, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said. Mr Nanono disclosed this when speaking at the National Dairy Policy Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja on Tuesday. He said, “Despite the potentials in the dairy industry, 60 per cent of dairy products consumed in the country is imported while the remaining 40 per cent is produced locally.” The minister said Nigeria’s per capita consumption of milk is 8 litres per year, representing very low consumption levels when compared with the global average of 44 litres of milk, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). According to him, presently, the Nigerian dairy industry is largely subsistence and consists of lo...
